The present invention relates to a ski game machine or a ski simulator. More particularly, it relates to a ski simulator by which skiing motions suitable to practice downhill competitions and play a ski game by putting an operator""s feet on skis can be enabled.
Various kinds of game machines or simulators (hereinafter, they are called simply as game machines) by which operators can gain their experiences of skiing in virtual reality have been proposed. For example, on the game machine, a ski course and a condition where a skier traverses on a ski course like a car driving race can be displayed by moving imitation skis provided in front of a display device side by side.
Such game machines are more useful for beginners of skiing or persons who want to ski on an unexperienced course for a normal skier like a course of downhill competition. Therefore, there is a demand to gain a experience of skiing in virtual reality close to reality as much as possible.
At first, as described above, when the skier""s position on a ski course is only arithmetized from the direction of the skis like a steering direction for a car driving race and the condition where the skier moves to the position is only displayed on the display screen, the player can not gain an experience of the condition peculiar to skiing. For instance, a track on a snow surface after the skis are sliding, i.e., a spur, is one of the situations peculiar to skiing. A condition of left and right legs which varies according to an unevenness or an inclined angle on a snow surface of the course is also one of the motions peculiar to skiing. Further, reaction (kick-back) from the snow surface to the skis depending on a direction of the skis or an inclined angle of the ski""s edges becomes a necessity for a skier who controls the skis to gain an experience in virtual reality.
However, there is no conventional game machine by which the player can gain an experience with respect to the above-described points, and therefore, it is required to propose such a game machine.
Secondly, in a case of a game machine for playing a car driving race, a driving signal is given to a driving means so that kick-backs generated when the player turns the wheels sharply or vibrations to a handle or a car body depending on a road condition give players realism.
However, it is not general to give the player a drive to support the game progression. In the above-described ski game machine or ski simulator, it is desired to help improving their techniques by providing a means for supporting beginners or players who will slide a difficult course for the first time.
In the conventional game machine, there is a problem to loose virtual realism because the game progression is reset in general at the time the player is out of the ski course or bumps against an obstacle, the displayed picture is varied to a normal direction quite apart from the player""s operation, and the condition of the skier, i.e., the player, is reset, thereby the player being apart from the game program for a while.
Thirdly, a ski game machine called as xe2x80x9cAlpine racerxe2x80x9d has been made public as a ski simulating game machine from Namco Ltd., a game machine producer in Japan. In the game machine, a player puts his or her feet on steps imitating skis which can be swung side by side and moves their feet side by side by himself or herself to control a direction of the skis as watching the video image picture on a skiing ground displayed on a large screen in front of him or her.
A ski simulator produced by Timber Jack Co. in Sweden has a structure in which a rotary axis of the steps imitating skis is inclined.
In the above described ski game machine produced by Namco Ltd., the steps for putting the player""s feet can swing side by side around the front-centered rotary axis extending to a perpendicular direction. In the ski game machine, the steps for putting the player""s feet rotate around the same rotary shift when the player swings his or her feet side by side. Therefore, it is impossible to provide a difference between front and back of the skier""s legs peculiar to an actual skiing motions, such as the inside foot in a turning direction is positioned forward. Further, the rotary axis of the steps for putting the player""s feet is positioned in the perpendicular direction, the left and right feet only swing in a horizontal direction. Therefore, it is also impossible to provide a difference between up and down of the left and light feet peculiar to an actual skiing motion, such as the inside foot in a turning direction is positioned upward, such as an actual skiing motion.
On the other hand, in the ski simulator produced by Timber jack Co. in Sweden having the similar mechanism of Namco, Ltd. but the inclined rotary axis of the steps, a difference between up and down of left and right feet with respect to a perpendicular direction can be provided when the player swings his or her feet side by side. However, the surfaces contacted to the left and right feet are on the same plane unless operating to get up on his or her edges by employing an edging mechanism, which is provided separately. Therefore, there is no difference between up and down of left and right feet with respect to the contacted surfaces.
In the case of the game machine produced by Namco Ltd., a normal line of the contacted surfaces of the left and right feet is basically extending to a perpendicular direction. In the case of the game machine produced by Timber Jack Co., the normal line of the contacted surfaces of the left and right feet is extending to the outside from the center of the displayed screen. Therefore, the operator should take up the stance for skiing that impairs reality.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game machine for solving the above-described conventional problems by which spurs of the skis are traced on a course of the snow surface displayed on the display device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a game machine by which a conditions of a player""s feet varying according to an unevenness or an angle of the snow surface can be displayed.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a game machine by which virtual kick back from a snow surface to skis can be given to a player.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a function for giving a player something to support his or her technique for skiing to solve the above-described problems.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a game machine in which when a player is out of a skiing course or bumps against an obstacle, a game can be compulsorily returned to a normal condition or the previous condition before the player lost the control, and the player is not be apart from the game progression by compulsorily guiding the player.
A still further object of the present invention to provide a ski simulator to make it possible to mechanically reproduce a difference of front-back and up-down between an outer foot and an inner foot while a player maintains control in a turn, in order to have the player shift his or her weight from the outer foot to the inner foot when parallel skiing, and therefore, the player can easily change his or her left and right feet as if he or she walks.
According to one aspect of this invention, these objects are achieved by a ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player and displaying an object of a skier corresponding to the player, which machine comprises a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski; a control unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the skier on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, generating polygon data showing traces of the skis of the skier according to the position data, storing the polygon data while the skier is skiing on the ski course, and generating display data of the traces to be displayed on the display device according to the stored polygon data of the traces; and a display for displaying the ski course with the traces of the skis according to the display data of the traces generated by the control unit.
As described above, according to the present invention, the polygon data of the spurs which are traces of the skies can be stored while the skier is skiing on the course. Therefore, the spurs can be continued to displayed while a player is playing the game.
Further, according to the present invention, these objects are achieved by a ski game machine, executing a game program in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player and displaying an object of a skier corresponding to the player, which machine comprises a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski; a game executing unit for obtaining position data showing a current position of the skier on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, obtaining a distance for dropping the skier""s feet on a snow surface according to the change of the position data, obtaining data of a current position of the skier""s waist by making a distance for dropping the player""s waist smaller than the distance for dropping the feet, obtaining angles between thighs and shanks set to a predetermined length from the feet and waist positions and generating angle data of the thighs and shanks; a video image processor for generating polygon data of the thighs and shanks according to the angle data and generating display data of the thighs and shanks to display according to the polygon data; and a display for displaying the skier""s legs in a form according to an unevenness and an inclined angle on the snow surface according to the display data of the thighs and shanks generated from the video image processor.
Additionally, according to the present invention, these objects are achieved by a ski game machine in which a game program is executed in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player, which machine comprises a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting direction and degree of a rotation of the imitation ski; a control unit for obtaining speed data showing the current speed of the skier on a ski course according to data of ski course and the control signal, generating a driving signal for driving the imitation skis when the rotation degree of the imitated skis is exceeded than a predetermined threshold corresponding to the speed data; and a ski driver which receives the driving signal for giving a predetermined level of vibration to the imitation skies.
Alternatively, according to the present invention, the above-described objects are achieved by a ski game machine in which a game program is executed in response to a control signal given by rotating imitation skis by a player to display an object of a skier corresponding to the player, which machine comprises: a ski rotation detector for generating the control signal by detecting a rotation of the imitation skis; a storage medium for storing data of a ski course including at least data of a predetermined route on a ski course; a control unit for obtaining position data showing the current position of the skier according to the control signal and generating a ski driving signal so that the position is moved to the predetermined route; and a ski driver for rotatably driving the skis according to the ski driving signal generated by the control unit.
When the player is out of the ski course or bumps against an obstacle, he or she can be guided to an suitable direction by driving the skies. Then, it becomes possible to give the player an experience close to an actual skiing motion because a constant relation can be kept without being apart between the varied display screen and the skis.
The above-described objects are achieved by a ski simulator comprising: vertical shafts provided in a vertical direction in parallel to each other; a pair of swing frames which are fastened to each of the vertical shafts; a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the swing frames; and steps for putting the player""s feet provided on the front ends of the swing frames.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to position the left and right feet frontward and backward when the operator""s feet shift side by side.
Additionally, according to the present invention, these objects are achieved by a ski simulator comprising: vertical shafts provided in vertical direction in parallel to each other; a pair of swing frames fastened to each vertical shaft; a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the swing frames; almost horizontal shafts provided on the front end of the swing frames; and steps rotatably provided to the horizontal shaft for putting the feet thereon.
As described above, according to the present invention, when either of the operator""s legs twists toward a left or right direction, the operator""s feet positions are respectively shifted backward and frontward.
Further, according to the present invention, these objects are achieved by a ski simulator comprising: vertical shafts provided in a vertical direction in parallel to each other; a pair of swing frames fastened to each vertical shafts; a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the swing frames; a pair of almost horizontal shafts provided on each front ends of the swing frames; and a pair of steps, rotatably provided to the horizontal shaft, for putting the feet thereon; and a link mechanism for linking and synchronizing the pair of the steps.
As described above according to the present invention, when both legs of the operator twist toward a left or right direction, the operator""s feet positions are respectively shifted frontward and backward.
Further, the objects of the present invention are achieved by a ski simulator in which the horizontal shafts provided on the swing frames are slightly inclined to the upper-frontward.
As described above, according to the present invention, the operator""s feet are inclined frontward, and therefore, he or she can take a stance for actual skiing on a slope.
Further, according to either of the above-described invention, the above-described objects can be achieved by a ski simulator in which a driving device for rotating the swing frames is provided.
As described above, according to the present invention, the operator can feel reactions as if he is actually skiing.
Further, according to either of the above-described invention, the above-described objects are achieved by a ski simulator in which a display section for displaying video images of a ski course is provided at front.
As described above, according to the present invention, the operator can feel like skiing in real as he is watching a ski course to be displayed.
Additionally, according to the present invention, these objects are achieved by a ski simulator in which the display section for displaying the video images is slightly inclined upward.
As described above, according to the present invention, the operator can gain an experience as if he is traversing on a slope downward.